The incident was brought to the attention of the DGCA through a voluntary report from Air India. (Photo: Company)
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday imposed a fine of Rs 99 lakh on Air India and its two senior executives for operating a flight with unqualified pilots last month. The regulator said the incident had “significant safety implications”.
The incident occurred around July 10 when a student pilot and a non-pilot were operating a commercial flight of the airline as a pair, the DGCA said, in violation of safety regulations.
The DGCA imposed a fine of Rs 90 lakh on Air India and Rs 6 lakh and Rs 3 lakh on Air India's operations manager and its training manager respectively. The airline's training manager was also suspended from his post for six months. “The pilot concerned was also cautioned to exercise caution to avoid such incidents in future. Air India operated a flight led by a line captain who was not a trainer and a first officer who was not line cleared. This was considered by the regulator to be a serious planning incident with significant safety implications,” it said.
The incident came to the attention of the DGCA through a voluntary report by Air India on July 10. “Upon taking note of this incident, the regulator initiated comprehensive investigations into Air India's operations, including a record review and a sample inspection of Air India's flight planning facility. Based on the investigation, it was prima facie found that there are deficiencies and numerous violations of regulations by several incumbents and employees, which could significantly affect safety,” the DGCA said.
The pilot-in-command of the flight and the airline's executives received a request on July 22 to explain the incident. “The response from the concerned party did not contain any satisfactory explanation. Therefore, the DGCA has initiated coercive action as per the provisions of the applicable rules/regulations and imposed the above penalty,” the regulator said.
Several DGCA actions against Air India
The airline has drawn the ire of the regulator on several occasions in recent years. In May, the DGCA said Tata-owned Air India was “consistently” failing to take proper care of its passengers after passengers suffered “inadequate” cabin cooling on two flights that were “excessively delayed”.
In March, the DGCA imposed a fine of Rs 80 lakh on Air India for violating the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules, which aim to provide pilots with adequate rest time to prevent fatigue-related industrial accidents.
In February, Air India was fined Rs 30 lakh by the DGCA after an elderly passenger suffered a fatal heart attack. The passenger had chosen to walk from the aircraft to the terminal as the airline was unable to provide a requested wheelchair, leading to the tragic incident minutes later.
In January, Air India was fined Rs 30 lakh for failing to deploy enough trained pilots for low-visibility landings (CAT-III landings). The CAT-III instrument landing system is used at India's major airports to enable pilots to land aircraft in visibility as low as 50 meters. However, a pilot must be trained to use this system. In January, hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled across the country due to dense fog.
In June 2023, the DGCA suspended two Air India pilots – a captain for one year and a co-pilot for one month – for allowing an unauthorized person to enter the cockpit during the airline's Chandigarh-Leh flight on June 3.
A similar incident occurred on February 27, 2023, on the airline's Delhi-Dubai flight, when the captain allowed a female friend to enter the cockpit. The DGCA suspended that captain for three months in April 2023 and warned the co-pilot for not being assertive enough to prevent this violation.
In January 2023, the Civil Aviation Authority imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India for failings in handling an incident in which a man urinated on a fellow passenger on a New York-Delhi flight. In June 2022, it imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on the airline for failing to pay required compensation to passengers with valid tickets who were denied boarding.
THE BEAUTIFUL STORY
June 2022: DGCA fines Air India Rs 10 lakh for not paying required compensation to passengers with tickets denied boarding
January 2023: A fine of Rs 30 lakh is imposed for failure to handle an incident in which a man urinated on a fellow passenger
January 2024: Rs 30 lakh fine for inadequate training of pilots for landings in poor visibility
February 2024: Airline has to pay Rs 30 lakh fine after elderly passenger suffers heart attack
March 2024: DGCA imposes fine of Rs 80 lakh for violation of flight duty time limitation rules
First published: August 23, 2024 | 2:44 p.m. IS
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